'Why invalid votes increased during recount?' HC decision on Kerala Varma College election likely today

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Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Thursday asked how the invalid votes in Kerala Varma College elections increased and NOTA votes decreased during recounting.
The court has asked the returning officer to submit the original documents of the college elections by 1.45pm on Friday. The verdict on the case is likely to be pronounced after this.
Justice TR Ravi also questioned the rationale of constituting a core committee when the returning officer could have made a decision on recounting. The court also asked why the Principal of the college signed the document when the list of core committee members did not include him.
The court was considering a plea filed by KSU's chairperson candidate S Sreekuttan.
On November 1, Sreekuttan, a visually-impaired final-year political science student, had emerged victorious in Kerala Varma College elections by a single ballot securing 896 votes. However, the rival SFI demanded a recount. In the recount, SFI candidate Anirudhan won by 11 votes on November 2. KSU activists alleged that the SFI victory was part of an orchestrated attempt to overturn the votes in its favour.